Drums

ABSTRACT

A drum having transparent shell and heads whereby the performer thereon can be completely viewed during his performance.

United States Patent lnventor William Zickos 9302 West 89th St., Overland Park, Kans- 66212 Appl. N 0. 86,099 Filed Nov. 2, 1970 Patented Dec. 7, 1971 DRUMS 2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl 84/411, 84/452 P Int. Cl ..G10d 13/02 Field of Search...,.' 84/411, 452

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 2,609,722 9/1952 Way 84/411 3,019,685 2/1962 Davis 84/411 Primary Examiner-Richard B. Wilkinson Assistant Examiner-Lawrence R. F ranklin Attorney-Jack Hensel ABSTRACT: A drum having transparent shell and heads whereby the performer thereon can be completely viewed during his performance.

PATENIEDnEc Han 3,626,458

INVENTOR W/lL/AM Z/CKOS UQWZIW ATTORNEY DRUMS This invention relates to drums, and particularly to drums of a novel type, whereby the drum shell is constructed of a rigid transparent material and the drum heads covering the shell ends are also constructed of a transparent but vibratable material.

Many diverse types of construction material have been used to form the drum shell and heads. Wood has been the preferred material of construction, usually consisting of wood laminates. Conventional drums made of wood laminates do not yield good sound properties but tend to distort the sound vibrations. Drums made from metal do not have a natural drum sound except for its use in'snare drums. Drums made from fiberglas have not proved completely satisfactory because of nonuniform interior surface finishing and difficult methods of fabrication.

l have discovered that my intention provides a drum shell giving improved sounds over those heretofore employed, constructed of materials described above. My preferred material for shell construction is a rigid transparent polymeric material such as Lucite,'Plexiglas, and other such polymerics capable of fabrication to a glasslike smooth finish free from surface imperfections. These materials have a density lighter than metal and greater shell wall thickness can be used to construct the shell without increasing the weight of the finished drum.

The shells thus made give purer tonal response compared with wood laminates andmetal. They resist splitting, cracking, and warping with changes of temperature and humidity as usually occurs with wood laminate construction. Furthermore, the shells constructed according to my invention will not dent as is possible with the thin-walled conventional metal shells. My shells have superior dimensional stability free from shrinking and deterioration after long periods of use.

The preferred material of construction for my drum heads is polyester sheet (Mylar) being both transparent and vibratable to produce tom-tom, bass, and snare drum sounds.

Prior drum heads have been constructed of vellum, skins, rubber sheets, and the like. There was little similarity between the materials of construction of the shell made of laminated wood or metal and the vellum, skins, and rubber comprising the drum head. I have discovered that the materials l use for shells and heads, described above, work together to improve the drum sound resulting from the like materials, synthetic resin plastics, vibrating at the same tonality through total reflection of sound when the drum heads are struck.

A principal object of my invention is to provide an all-clear concept of drum construction. By this l mean that the shell and heads are transparent, thereby permitting for the first time a total viewing of the drum performer during his performance, such as the movement of his hands, feet, etc. This is true whether he is perfonning on stage in an orchestra, band, or emsemble, or participating in a marching band.

Another object is to provide for color changes being easily made through certain lighting techniques such as diffusion, edge lighting, etc. A multiplicity of such internal lighting techniques may be employed to allow for this unique coloring effect. Due to the transparency of the heads and shell, the light transmittance permits changing the color of the drums v my invention.

F IG. 2'is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 2-2 on head ofdrum in HO. 1.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line3-3 on shell of drum in H6. 1.

- As seen from the drawings, (10) designates generally a drum having head (11) secured to shell (12) by means of adjustable clamp assemblies (13). Threaded rod (14) is integrally secured toupper adjusting key (15) having its lower edge slightl flared outward] to slidably contact the up er surface of clamp (16), forme .l-shape, engaging the rim ($7) of head assembly (1l). By any well known means the membrance (18) formed of any suitable resilient transparent plastic as described above can be secured in mounting rim (17). Rod (14) is slidably engaged through annular portion (18) of lug (19) on the longer arm (20) of clamp (16). The lower opposite end of rod (14) extends beyond arm (20) and is engaged by lug (21) having a reciprocally threaded opening (22) therein. Lugs (21) are secured to shell (12) by any suitable means such as rivets, screws bolts, and the like. By rotational adjustment of keys (15), the clamps (16) are caused to be tightened on rim (17 stretching the membrance to a desired degree. Suitable legs (23) having a slight arcuate shape can be used to support a drum such as a bass drum, as shown. Similar legs designated (23) are shown as seen through the transparent head and shell construction. A pair of leg clamps (24) are secured by suitable means such as bolting to the outward lower section of the shell, each located approximately one-third from each drum head as shown. A hollow lug (25) is secured to clamp (24) for receiving one end of leg (23). Clamp (24) has an aperture in line with hollow lug (24) through which said end of leg (23) may traverse. Lugs (25) are provided with set screws (26) to hold legs (23) in firm engagement with lugs (25). As can be seen from the drawing, the legs may be adjusted to raise or lower the drum a desired distance from its supporting surface to accommodate the drum performer.

In FIG. 1 several other styles and shapes of drums are shown incorporating my invention, having modified shaped support legs and bolt head clamp adjusting means.

While l have illustrated and described certain embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that it is capable of other modifications. Changes, therefore, may be made in construction and arrangement without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A drum comprising a hollow elongated shell with opposing open ends of transparent and relatively rigid material, having at least one drum head of resilient and transparent material mounted on one of the said open ends and securing means for adjustably tensioning said head to said shell.

2. A drum according to claim 1 wherein two said drum heads are mounted on said ends of said shell. 

1. A drum comprising a hollow elongated shell with opposing open ends of transparent and relatively rigid material, having at least one drum head of resilient and transparent material mounted on one of the said open ends and securing means for adjustably tensioning said head to said shell.
 2. A drum according to claim 1 wherein two said drum heads are mounted on said ends of said shell. 